smoke can burn too
by derekstilinksi
Summary: tumblr prompt from chibigikochin: Due to his mother having a tendency to smoke inside the house, Carlos has a tendency to smell like smoke and someone makes a comment about it which makes him upset so Jay goes to comfort him


**tumblr prompt from chibigikochin :) i hope everyone enjoys**

"Carlos?" Chad asked the white haired boy while they were at lunch one day, "Do you smoke?"

Upon hearing the question, Jay, Mal, and Evie collectively dropped what they were holding and snapped their heads up to look at the son of prince charming. Evie and Mal both sent him glares while Jay only sent him a pleading look. This was the last thing Carlos needed from prince stuckup.

Carlos froze for a second before shoveling a strawberry into his mouth and avoiding his friend's stares and glares. He replied to Chad as calmly and evenly as he could, "Nope. Never have, never will."

"Oh. So then -" Jay, Mal and Evie all shook their heads, signaling him to _please_ stop before he says something stupid that could hurt their sensitive friend's feelings. Of course their warnings did absolutely nothing to stop the boy, "- why do you smell like smoke sometimes?"

"Uh…." Carlos racked his brain for an excuse to get away from this conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was explain his life story to Chad, "Oh! hey, I think I forgot to…. make my bed this morning! Yeah, I really need to go do that, I'll see you later guys!"

And he was gone.

Jay sighed and stood, gathering his things, "Thanks a lot, prince of no common sense."

He ran off after his friend, leaving Chad with a glaring Mal and a pissed off Evie. Ben was there too, but even he wouldn't be able to deflect the rage about to thrown on Chad, so he just gave him a look of pity. Chad who was still oblivious, just looked around the table confused, "What did I say?"

Of course, Jay found Carlos curled up with Dude on his bed. He wasn't facing him, but Jay knew his eyes were downcast, and his small pout that he always got when someone mentioned his mother was present on his lips. He didn't acknowledge Jay when he quietly came into the room, just continued to silently pet the small dog.

The younger boy had changed his clothes into an outfit that he was sure never got in contact with his mother, but he knew the smell of smoke still lingered. It always did. Jay, Mal and Evie didn't notice it anymore, since they're always around Carlos, but Jay knew that others could tell.

"Carlos, you know Chad is a jackass -"

"It's not about who says it, Jay, it's that they say it at all," Carlos said without missing a beat. He didn't care that Chad had been the one to tell him, it could have been Ben or even innocent little Lonnie and the outcome would have been the same.

He didn't look up from Dude, but he knew Jay had sat down on the bed next to him by the dip in the mattress. He wanted to stay in bed with Jay the rest of the day, knowing that he didn't care whether or not Carlos smelled like a cigarette. Just like how Carlos didn't care that Jay's hands were too rough from years and years of stealing and running and jumping around the Isle.

He felt Jay's arm curl around his waist, taking the hand that was working through Dude's fur and holding it close to Carlos' chest. He inhaled Jay's scent that he was so used to, but it didn't make him feel better this time. "I just hate the way the smoke lingers…. how it's stayed with me all this time, even being off the Isle."

"I know, C," Jay said, squeezing his hand softly, "They don't know what you've been through. No one in Auradon has any right at all to judge you or any of us."

Carlos nodded, hearing what Jay was saying but he felt tears come to his eyes, "It's like a constant reminder that even if she's miles away, on an island, surrounded by a magical barrier, she still has a way to make me feel like this. Doesn't matter how many times I shower and wash my hair with fancy Auradon soap or wash my clothes over and over again, I still feel and smell like I did when I lived with her..." he trailed off, his voice cracking.

Jay hated this. He hated that Carlos felt like this, and he knew that Carlos always felt like this. And it wasn't really the smell of smoke, though he'd like it to be. It was that something his mom did so long ago was still affecting him.

He hid it a lot of the time, but the younger was so insecure sometimes that it physically hurt Jay. Him, Mal and Evie were insecure too, but they weren't even close to the level Carlos was at, and it was all his mother's fault. Jay resisted the urge to growl, afraid it would scare Carlos.

Jay didn't know how to comfort the boy after this, he didn't know what to say to change this, because honestly, he couldn't fix this. He couldn't just spray Carlos with four cans of Febreze and call it good, it didn't work like that.

Or… maybe it did...

"Hey, I might have an idea." Jay whispered next to his ear and Carlos nodded, "There's probably something in Mal's spell book that, like, masks scents, right? Or something like that."

Carlos sniffled, "Probably," he said in a watery voice, "I'll text Mal."

"Carlos texted me," Mal said back in their room, interrupting Evie's rant about how stupid and inconsiderate Chad can be and how she 'can't believe she ever wanted to be his princess'. "He asked if there's something in my spellbook that hides smells."

Evie normally wouldn't have been okay with her rant being interrupted, but this was her little brother, "...There's something non-magical that does that. It's called perfume."

Mal sighed, getting another text from Carlos saying they'd be in their dorm in a few minutes, "Boys are dumb, Evie."

"How much do you want to bet it was Jay's idea."

"Idea? More like weak attempt at comfort."

"Mal, the last time he cried around you, you said and I quote, 'It could be worse, you could be dead, at the bottom of a pit, back on the Isle'"

Mal opened her mouth to protest, but there was really no arguing with that.

When the boys got to Evie and Mal's dorm, Mal cracked open the spellbook. She 'searched' through the book while Evie tried to comfort Carlos a bit more. Mal announced that she had found a potion, but she had to go make it in the bathroom and that she'd be back in a minute or two.

In the bathroom, Mal didn't grab anything to make potion, instead she grabbed one of Evie's perfume bottles. Mal had no idea which one it was, but it said cotton candy so she took it. She stayed in the bathroom for a little while longer, just to be realistic and let them think she was actually making this. She was nice enough to do a small enchantment on the bottle that would make the smell last much longer than it was made to, but that was all.

When Mal walked out, Carlos had a hopeful smile on his face that she loved. She returned a smile, "Alright, C, stand up." he did and she walked over to him, holding the small glass bottle. She sprayed his neck with it twice and over his wrists, telling him to rub them together.

When she announced it was done, Carlos beamed at her before hugging her tightly, which she gladly did the same. When he released her, he sent her a look, "This isn't gonna make anyone fall in love with me, right?"

Jay moved in just then, wrapping an arm around his waist, "Too late."

Carlos smiled up at him, letting Jay pull him out of the room. He yelled over his shoulder to her as they exited the room, "Thank you, Mal!"

"No problem, C!" She smiled and turned to Evie, who raised an eyebrow at her, crossing her arms.

"What did you _actually_ do?"

Mal chuckled and raised up the perfume she stole, "I sprayed him with your perfume."

Evie laughed, taking her perfume back, "You're evil."

"Duh."

**so i was hoping this would turn out more angsty but no, no it did not. oh well, i like it**


End file.
